Thursday brought a glimmer of hope for gun control advocates that Washington lawmakers will at least begin debating the issue. It arrived with a bipartisan proposal by two senators on expanding background checks to more gun buyers.

Yesterday, the Senate voted, 68-31, to end a Republican filibuster blocking the start of debate on a new gun control bill, a top priority for President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders.

For those in the control camp like President Obama, it appears to be a start. Critics like the National Rifle Association steadfastly contend that looks more like the beginning of the end.

Those in the middle — perhaps the largest group — simply want to see substantive talks begin and the dramatic posturing come to an end.

Authors of the proposal, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., are widely viewed as two of the more conservative members of their respective parties.

Sixteen Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with Democrats yesterday. Two Democratic senators - Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas - sided with the majority of Republicans. Sixty votes were needed for passage.

Senators are expected to spend at least the next two weeks debating the gun bill.

For both sides, debate will be a good thing and the right thing. Blocking discussion of gun measures would only more sharply divide a nation split by ideological differences over the constitutionally protected right to own guns or control their sale. Frank and open talks about the issue are what the public deserves and what political leaders are mandated to deliver after the spate of mass shootings over the past few years, topped by the December incident in Newtown, Conn. where 20 elementary school children and six educators were gunned down.

“Truly the events at Newtown changed us all,” Manchin said. “Americans on both sides of the debate can and must find common ground.”

We agree.

Certainly background checks could be common ground to start. Manchin and Toomey contend that the new accord, which will be inserted into the current gun bill, could help keep guns from criminals and the mentally ill. At the moment, background checks only cover sales by licensed gun dealers. The Manchin-Toomey proposal would extend it to all commercial sales, including gun shows and online. The sales would have to be channeled through licensed firearms dealers, who would have to keep records of the transactions. Sales such as those between relatives that are not for profit, would be exempt.

For GOP senators, signing off on simply having the discussion doesn’t imply ultimate endorsement of anything. It’s just talking. That’s how bills have been crafted in Congress for decades. But the public can now hear lawmakers in both chambers provide give and take on the matters of background checks or whether so-called assault weapons should be banned and other proposals on the table.

The overall gun bill as proposed has several elements that may be approved, heavily revised or scuttled outright. Whatever the outcome, it should be discussed thoroughly and put to a vote.